With soaring temperature, power thefts too on rise in Hyderabad

T Jagath Reddy, director (transmission), TS TRANSCO, attributed the rise in such cases to the surge in temperature and said how most offenders either tampered with their metres or tapped into the 11KV overhead cables for illegal supply of powerTNN | March 28, 2017, 08:04 IST

Hyderabad: The onset of summer has brought with it a sharp increase in power thefts across Hyderabad. Officials of the Telangana State Southern Power Distribution Company Limited (TSSPDCL) said that the anti-power theft squad of the discom has arrested over 90 offenders in March alone.

In the most recent case reported on March 11, when a businessman from Balanagar was put behind bars for tampering with the metre. Acting on a tip-off, officials of the Detection of Pilferage of Energy (DPE) department raided a factory belonging to the accused, M Devender, only to find that the electricity metre had been tampered with. Since it was his second offence, Devender was imposed a fine of 12,000 and sent to judicial remand.

T Jagath Reddy, director (transmission), TS TRANSCO, attributed the rise in such cases to the surge in temperature and said how most offenders either tampered with their metres or tapped into the 11KV overhead cables for illegal supply of power.

"Since the temperature is rising, thieves have begun pilfering to use fans, coolers and air-conditioners in their homes. While they want to use these appliances, they do not want to pay for the electricity," he said.